Traders Buy High Volume of Community Healthcare Trust Put Options (NYSE:CHCT)

Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated (NYSE:CHCT) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 6,854 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 6,894% compared to the average volume of 98 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on CHCT. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Community Healthcare Trust from $29.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Community Healthcare Trust from $30.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Evercore ISI upgraded Community Healthcare Trust from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded Community Healthcare Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Community Healthcare Trust from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Community Healthcare Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert Z. Hensley bought 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.50 per share, for a total transaction of $126,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 70,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,378,065. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO David H. Dupuy bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.48 per share, for a total transaction of $194,800.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 363,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,082,246.20. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Z. Hensley bought 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.50 per share, for a total transaction of $126,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 70,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,378,065. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 4.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community Healthcare Trust

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Community Healthcare Trust by 27.8% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 364,844 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,687,000 after purchasing an additional 79,421 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System acquired a new position in Community Healthcare Trust during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $933,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Community Healthcare Trust by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,951,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $78,373,000 after purchasing an additional 53,282 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Community Healthcare Trust by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 246,109 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,756,000 after purchasing an additional 33,008 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Community Healthcare Trust by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 142,167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,206 shares during the period. 87.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Community Healthcare Trust Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE CHCT opened at $17.44 on Wednesday. Community Healthcare Trust has a twelve month low of $15.06 and a twelve month high of $32.67. The company has a market capitalization of $483.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.33.

Community Healthcare Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.4625 dividend. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.61%. This is an increase from Community Healthcare Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Community Healthcare Trust’s payout ratio is 289.06%.

About Community Healthcare Trust

Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated is a real estate investment trust that focuses on owning income-producing real estate properties associated primarily with the delivery of outpatient healthcare services in our target sub-markets throughout the United States. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had investments of approximately $1.1 billion in 193 real estate properties (including a portion of one property accounted for as a sales-type lease and two properties classified as held for sale).